March 2
1800s *1874 - At the fourth meeting of the National Association of Professional Baseball Players in Boston, the batter's box is officially adopted. It is also decided that expulsion will be the penalty for any player betting on his own team and any player betting on any other team will forfeit his pay. *1886 - The American Association meets and overrules president Denny McKnight (also owner of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys club) and suspends second baseman Sam Barkley for signing with Pittsburgh before the dispute over his sale is settled. The AA adopts new rules. The number of balls needed for a walk is reduced from seven to six; the pitcher's box is one foot deeper, giving the pitcher seven feet behind the 50-foot front line in which to execute his delivery; stolen bases are adopted as an official statistic, although the definition is rather vague initially. *1888 - The National League meets in New York and abolishes all discounts from the 50-cent minimum admission price. Despite the demands of the Brotherhood and the fact that the rule is practically a dead letter, the NL refuses to drop its $2,000 salary limit rule. The schedule committee recommends that the season go to 140 games from the current 126. *1899 - At the National League meeting in New York, an attempt to expel the St. Louis Browns, who had a 39-111 record in 1898, fails by a 7–4 margin. It is also decided that no club may hold more than 18 players on its reserve list. St. Louis will play as the "Perfectos" in the upcoming season. 1900s-1930s *1901 - Jimmy Collins, the choice of Connie Mack as the best all-time third baseman, switches leagues but not cities. Collins leaves the Boston Beaneaters National League club to manage the new Boston Somersets of the American League. The N.L. Beaneaters will also lose outfielder Hugh Duffy, who becomes manager of Milwaukee's new A.L. entry, and catcher Billy Sullivan, who signs with the Chicago White Sox. More than half the AL rosters—a total of 185—will be filled by NL players. *1909- Mel Ott is born in Gretna, Louisiana. He will make his major league debut with the New York Giants in 1926. Over a 22-year career, Ott will hit 511 home runs with 1,860 RBI, 1859 runs, 2876 hits (1,071 extra bases) and a .304 batting average. Ott will receive Hall of Fame honors in 1951. *1918 - The New York Yankees purchase first baseman George Burns from the Detroit Tigers and immediately trade him to the Philadelphia Athletics for outfielder Ping Bodie. *1927 - Babe Ruth becomes the highest paid player in major league history when the Yankees announce he will earn $70,000 per season for the next three years. Ruth will sign the historic contract on March 4. 1940s-1960s *1941 - In Havana, Cuba, the Brooklyn Dodgers complete a three-game sweep of their rival New York Giants. During the regular 1940 season the Giants held a 16–6 advantage over Brooklyn. *1949 - Joe DiMaggio leaves the Yankees spring training camp to have an ailing right heel examined at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is told that no surgery is needed and he returns to Florida, but the heel will continue to bother him. The star is hitting just 7-for-31 in the Grapefruit League. *1966 - Commissioner William Eckert voids the contract recently signed by collegiate star Tom Seaver. The Atlanta Braves had signed Seaver to a $50,000 bonus a week earlier, but Eckert cites a rule prohibiting teams from signing players while their college seasons are ongoing. 1970s-1990s *1973 - Eddie Bane of Arizona State University pitches a 9–0 perfect game against Cal State Northridge University. Bane will rack up a record of 41–4 in college. He will eventually reach the major leagues with the Minnesota Twins, but will win only seven games in three seasons. *1976 - The Los Angeles Dodgers re-acquire second baseman Ted Sizemore from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for outfielder Willie Crawford. Sizemore had started his major league career with the Dodgers in 1969, when he won the NL Rookie of the Year Award, and was later traded to the Cardinals as part of a package for slugger Richie Allen. *1992 - The highest-paid player tag now belongs to Ryne Sandberg of the Chicago Cubs. The All-Star second baseman signs a four-year contract extension worth 7.1 million dollars per season. *1995: **The first-ever major league trade of utility players is made between the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians. Cincinnati obtain former major league Barbaro Garbey and four others in return for "future considerations." **At a meeting in Chicago, major league owners accept the players' offer to return to work. *1996 - At St. Petersburg's Al Lang Field, two Japanese umpires work a game with two U.S. umpires. Osamu Ito is behind the plate as the Pirates whip the Cardinals, 11–2. "I thought they (the japenese) did a good job," commented Pirates manager Jim Leyland. "And even if they didn't, you couldn't argue with them." In Dunedin, fellow Central League umpires Samio Murakoshi and Toshio Azuma are part of a four-man crews that works the Phillies 12–2 victory over the Blue Jays. Meanwhile, four umpires from the majors are on a nine-day tour of the Japanese Leagues. *1999 - Players Orlando Cepeda, Frank Selee and Smokey Joe Williams, and umpire Nestor Chylak are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. 2000s *2005: **Thirty-two years after his death, Jackie Robinson receives the Congressional Gold Medal in the Capitol Rotunda, the highest honor Congress can bestow. The medal is accepted by Rachel Robinson, his widow. Baseball is represented in a way by former Texas Rangers executive George W. Bush. Robinson joins Roberto Clemente, Joe Louis and Jesse Owens as the only athletes among about 300 Gold Medal recipients. Following the ceremony, the Boston Red Sox are honored at the White House for winning the 2004 World Series. **In the Washington Nationals first game since moving from Montreal, pitcher Tony Armas, Jr. tossed two hitless innings and José Guillén hit a two-run home run as the Nationals posted a 5–3 triumph over the Mets in the Grapefruit League opener for both teams. The Expos played their first regular-season game against the Mets in 1969 and their last game against the Mets on October 3, 2004. In the first regular-season game between these franchises, Tom Seaver started for the Mets at Shea Stadium and Coco Laboy powered the Expos to an 11–10 victory. In their last meeting, Tom Glavine started for the Mets at Shea and Todd Zeile hit a home run to deal the Expos an 8–1 defeat. Wearing their regular-season home uniforms instead of the traditional batting-practice spring training jerseys, the Nationals defeated Glavine this time. *2006: **Barry Bonds' Reality TV Show chronicling the slugger during his pursuit of Hank Aaron's career home run record will debut April 4 on ESPN2, the network announced. **Bret Boone retired at New York Mets training camp, the culmination of a swift decline for a player who was one of MLB best second basemen only a few years ago. **Raúl Ibáñez and the Seattle Mariners finalized an $11 million, two-year contract extension that runs through 2008. Births *1894 - Elmer Myers, pitcher (d. 1976) *1902 - Moe Berg, catcher (d. 1972) *1907 - Woody English, All-Star infielder (d. 1997) *1909 - Mel Ott, Hall of Fame player and manager (d. 1958) *1912 - Ace Adams, All-Star pitcher (d. 2006) *1913 - Mort Cooper, All-Star pitcher (d. 1958) *1915 - Babe Barna, outfielder (d. 1972) *1917 - Jim Konstanty, All-Star pitcher (d. 1976) *1932 - Chico Fernández, infielder *1936 - Don Schwall, All-Star pitcher *1953 - Larry Wolfe, infielder *1962 - Terry Steinbach, All-Star catcher *1965 - Ron Gant, All-Star outfielder *1966 - Leo Gómez, infielder *1977 - Jay Gibbons, outfielder *1978 - Jared Sandberg, infielder Deaths *1905 - Stump Wiedman, pitcher (b. 1861) *1940 - Matt Kilroy, pitcher (b. 1866) *1951 - Andy Comorosky, outfielder (b. 1905) *1956 - Fred Merkle, infielder (b. 1888) *1960 - Howie Camnitz, pitcher (b. 1881) *1979 - Dale Alexander, infielder (b. 1903) *1995 - Ray Moore, pitcher (b. 1926) *2003 - Joe Decker, pitcher (b. 1947) *2005 - Rick Mahler, pitcher (b. 1953)